Yes, it would seem somewhat ridiculous to take the time, effort, and expense of traveling from Los Angeles, CA all the way to Austin, TX for SXSW only to spend a huge amount of time seeing local Los Angeles bands that play around the way on a regular basis. Well, people, then my name is “ridiculous” and I’m damned proud of it: I’m all about showing physical and emotional support for the good music.
The very particularly and specifically curated showcase “Dear Austin, Love L.A.” at Opal’s Divine Freehouse by the notoriously notable Kevin Bronson was nothing more than the man’s healthy love and respect for the insane amount of quality music coming out of Los Angeles these days and that quality made many SXSWsters find new bands to eagerly dig into like:
NO who brought the shiny post-punk with class
Vanaprasta who brought the psych/soul rock especially made for an arena near you
And the powerhouse who
Dead Sara simply ripped peoples’ faces off and had them lined up on the sidewalk outside of the venue with their minds blown by what they heard and saw.
See? Not kidding.
Also on Bronson’s monster local love showcase were Chasing Kings, PAPA, the Henry Clay People , Harriet, and the painfully delightful Milo Greene. Yes, Los Angeles represented hard and I’m not sure Austin/SXSW will know how to follow up such a badass act. But the fun will be in the next few days of watching them try.
Speaking of fun (or fun.)…I still haven’t gotten to see them. #FAIL
Now weather-wise it was a tad humid and muggy in Austin so dancing you butt off isn’t really the smartest thing to do, but shit happens when you catch a
Free Energy show (not an LA band, BTW). Twice in one day. And even though their 1am set at Jrs. (second show of the day) was pushed back by a dude named Thomas Dolby who simply would NOT get off the stage even after being told to, and being bitten by the technical difficulties bug, the feel-good, dance fever of Free Energy’s rocking pop prevailed and those boys made a good time happen for the crowd that decided to stay until things got sorted.
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| Free Energy |
Random acts of SXSW awesome: Stubbs bbq sammich with Evan, repeated run-ins with Alex, Daisy, and Aaron from Foxy Shazam (taxes were discussed), chatty moments with pieces of the UK’s Viva City, free sushi from the Convention Center, seeing the many beautiful faces that I never expected bump into just walking down the street, and Austin PD giving a lady’s car a jump in the middle of the madness on 6th Street.
Way to show your love, ATX.
*Note* Venues that run an hour behind schedule get on my nerves. The music moon must have been in retrograde, this I assume due to the abundance of tech/equipment/sound issues running rampant at SXSW today (Dead Sara’s second show of the day may just go down in sketchy back line/sound history. Damn). Hey dude who recited a wicked mad slice of def jam poetry to me while walking down 6th Street: that was awesome.
As for today, March 15th, here are a few SXSW options for you:
1- Day #2 of SOFAR Sounds: SOFAR has partnered with High Voltage to make your ears happy with delightful acoustic sessions. Friday line up brings you: NO (12:15), Reeps One (12:45), Reynosa (1:30), Shakey Graves (2:00), and We Were Evergreen (2:30). RSVP to get in and receive the secret location address:AustinSofar@gmail.com
2-
Manic Fest Destiny at Rusty’s (405 E. 7th St.) presented by Sideways Media and Tijuana Gift Shop brings you two stages and some wicked acts to fill them like. Inside Stage: Dearly Beloved (12:30pm), The Shrine (1pm), Wished & Thieves (2pm), Jesse Thomas (3:30pm), Firehorse (4:30pm), The Stone Foxes (5:30pm). Outside Stage: Hey Marseilles (1pm), Jasmine Ash (2pm), backwords (3pm), New Cassettes (4pm), Greylag (5pm), Howlin Rain (6pm). Details
HERE and I hope you’ve RSVP’d for this one already.
3-
Filter Magazine’s Showdown at Cedar Street at Cedar Street Courtyard (208 W. 4th St.) has Twiliite (11am), Coldaire (11:30am), Paula Karol (12pm), Zulu Winter (1pm), Reptar (2pm), Band of Skulls (3pm), Kaiser Chiefs (4pm), Keane (5pm). Free noms at this one (that means food, kiddies) but do get there early for that. Get all the details and RSVP right
HERE.
Hit the streets and get your music on.
~Trina
